Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!

Hi everyone, well here we are on the Christmas countdown, can't believe it's December 1st already

It's been a busy week, on Tuesday my friend took me to see Friday night is Music night being recorded and it was a Strictly night  with Craig Revel Horwood and Zoe Ball as compere's. We had a front row seat and sitting in front of the BBC concert orchestra, listening to Lance Ellington and Hayley Saunderson singing was amazing. Wednesday was last night of Rock choir  till January, Thursday was Quiz night, Friday night a lovely Greek meal and friends for lunch on Saturday, hence not a lot of crafting this week :)
Anyway less of my social calendar and back to the letter for this week's Alpha challenge which is S. So many words to choose from and I know SING should have been the most appropriate but I had several embossed pieces hanging around and they spelt out one word, SNOW! Come and see:

I tried to show night and day and hope we don't have too many days or nights looking out at this!!!

We found out some quite exciting news at choir this week and that is that we are going to the Abbey Rd studios to record a couple of songs in February! It will only be our choir and not hundreds of us so it will be a fabulous experience  

Hope you are having a great weekend wherever you are and a big welcome to Viv who has kindly decided to follow me.

Less is More week 147-Christmas Card

Hi everyone, well this week's challenge over at LIM is Christmas cards, which is good  as I have been making a few over the last week.
                                                                               Week 147

Christmas Cards, 

but this time with the added proviso to

 Use a Bird!

My first card just uses an EF and an SU sentiment, but it was difficult to get  a good photo as I used some gilding wax on the embossing and it looks strange in the photo but not IRL!  I added some liquid pearls on the corners.

This one is again embossed and the stamp is a Sue Wilson one that I picked up at Ally Pally embossed in gold, which looks horribly yellow in the photo unfortunately.

Finally I just wanted to share a card that I made for my SIL's birthday last week. I was inspired by some cards that Viv made using the belleek technique, which gives such a pretty effect.

Now I have to put my mind to the altered dictionary challenge which is nearing the end but the letter this week is S which is one of the easier choices:)

We were singing yesterday at the Hampstead Xmas fair which is always a great atmosphere and luckily the weather held up for us.

Thanks for taking the time to visit, your comments are always welcome.

Less is More week 146-theme

Whoosh, as Darnell would say, as another week bites the dust and we have a new LIM challenge:) Chrissie and Jen always come up with original themes and this week is no different.

Use Designer Paper in a CAS Way

There's a tendency to forget about Designer Paper when creating Clean and Simple cards, but there is a variety of ways in which it can be used... without covering large areas of the card base.

Let's see what you can come up with!

It had to be a Christmas card as I don't seem to have many and not a lot of time left to make them!! The first card I made ended up not being particularly CAS, check below so I had to have a rethink. I have some Craftwork papers and using my bow die I ended up with a card I was pleased with and one that I am going to make several of, come and see:

The bow is a Die-namics die and the poinsettia is an All Occasion die. The sentiment is from SU embossed with gold detail powder.

This is Bo bunny DP and a Christmas tree cut on my Silhouette with added liquid pearls. Not quite CAS enough but easy to post!!

I'd like to welcome Sue,  who has kindly started to follow my blog and as a SU demonstrator has some fab cards on her blog:)

I made a Christmas cake yesterday and the house still smells gorgeous, hope it tastes as good!!

Thanks for visiting and I hope you are having an enjoyable weekend.

I'm all of a QUIVER!

Well here I am with my latest effort for the alpha challenge over at the Craft Barn. We have not had a huge choice of words this week as it's the letter Q !  Sometimes I find I want to create a more 3D effect and that's what I've done, come and see:

I made a paper pocket and coloured it to resemble a leather quiver to hold my arrows which are cocktail sticks with paper flights.
Lovely sunny day today but very cold! Off to our weekly quiz this evening in a local hostelry with a nice meal beforehand:)
Thanks for visiting and please leave a comment so that I can pop over to your blog!

Less is More week 145-OLC

Well here we are again and another week bites the dust! It was a beautiful day here and I have spent most of it putting everything, well perhaps not everything, back in our newly refurbished bathroom. We are delighted with the finished result and there wasn't too much mess.
Back to this week's LIM challenge which is as follows:

Morning... It's everyone's favourite challenge this week...
One Layer Cards. 
This week we have a simple one for you

Thank You

I was feeling quite pleased with my card and to finish it off I wanted to use my black Paper Pen to highlight the bee's heads and finish it off which I very nearly did!!! There was a slight blockage at the tip and as I squeezed the top flew off and it was  black paint everywhere! Luckily it only affected the bottom corner of my square card  which started off 6 x 6 and is now 4.5 x 5.5!! Come and see:

This card is mostly made with NBUS (never before used stuff!). The background stamp is by Indigo Blu and the bee is from a small Artemio set, all part of a win a few months ago. I also used my SU pricking templates, wow how easy is that, no more random dots!! The bee heads are highlighted with what was left in my Paper pen after the accident:)

The next card I want to show you is the anniversary card I made for my sister Karen which was last month but I forgot to post it, on my blog that is!

Thanks for taking the time to visit it's much appreciated

The Alpha challenge

Afternoon all from a blustery wet London town! Just a quick post for the altered dictionary challenge over at the Craft Barn, this fortnight the letter has been N, come and see ~

I used the Majestix branch to create the tree and the nest and one of the little stamps for leaves. The bird is SU Young Vermillion.

This challenge only has two more to go and I have really enjoyed it. There have been hints of something else for next year so watch this space:)

Less is More week 144-colour challenge

Here I am nice and early with a card for two challenges this week and another card for the Christmas box.

This week's challenge over at LIM is as follows:

We have a slightly different colour challenge for you.  We want to see how our photo inspires you and see cards that have ...

Dark background with a splash of colour(s)

And over at Stamping Sensations the theme is CHRISTMAS.

It's quite unusual to have a black Christmas card but the colours do show up nicely.

Recipe:

Ribbed black card

Japanese glittered paper as a mat

SU Bird on a branch punch

Su Christmas sentiment

WOW embossing glitters

Promarkers

Just finished this post in time as my son Dom has cooked dinner and it's ready:)

Sexy at 60!

No that's not me, I'm way past that:) My lovely friend Michele is 60 today and last night was saying, fabulous at fifty but sexy at 60!! I made a card using some Anna Marie polka dot card which is so pretty, come and see:

Recipe:

Base card 11" x 7" scored at 3 1/2, 4 1/2, 6 1/2 and 7 1/2

Anna Marie polka dot card

Doily cut in half

Tattered lace victorian circle die

All Occasion peitie petals die

WOW sentiment

Sizzex alphabet

number peeloff

As a birthday treat 3 of us are treating Michele  to afternoon tea at the Ritz for  in December, a great time to go as all the decorations are up and they are magnificent:)
Another busy week as we are having our bathroom ripped out and redone and I've not had time to enter this week's LIM challenge:( Hopefully normal service will resume next week:)

Thanking you in advance for any comments you may leave, I love to read them.

Alpha challenge

Hi everyone, wow it's ages since I posted anything! I've also been very lax in my commenting so apologies for that!
We had a wonderful trip to Spain with glorious weather and  we were only back one day and went down to deepest Somerset to stay with my sister. I've been struggling to get rid of a cough which is hanging on and leaving me with no energy, think I'll have to pinch some of Jim's Guinness:) Anyway although I haven't posted anything I have been busy making cards which I'll show you in the next couple of weeks.
I had a very crafty weekend with Karen as we had a Stampin Up extravaganza day on the Saturday and then attended the Taunton craft fair on the Sunday, both early starts!!! 

Week 21 for our Alpha Dictionary challenge... 

Challenge with a twist this fortnight. 

LETTER L

and there must be a WINDOW on your page/ ATC

The window can be an "opening one" like on Gio's page... or non opening like on Karen's... or a window stamp (but be creative)
I'm sure you will come up with brilliant ideas ;)

As we had to use a window  I thought that LINTEL was an appropriate word to illustrate, come and see:

I used Memory box dies and a TH ef and I used my new Grand Calibur that Jim very kindly bought me for my birthday, although he didn't know till I got back 

A friend at Rock Choir commissioned me to make a birthday card for her sister in Australia and here it is:

And I have to own up to copying Anne's photos from the SU day as I haven't taken any photos myself!

.

Loved the colour combo as it made a change from trad Xmas colours

Off to Portsmouth on Sunday to look after Charlie for a couple of days so that will keep me on my toes and a busy week catching up with friends on half term break.  May get a chance to get back to other challenges after that.

Thanks for visiting and you know I love to read your comments.

Less is More week 140-Christmas WOW!

Hi there to all the night owls  Just wanted to post this as we are away on Wednesday for a short break and I didn't want to miss this week's LIM challenge which is as follows:

White Christmas

For our challenge this week, we have chosen to add another parameter to our colour challenge and that is that the submissions must be Christmas related cards.

The colour is 

WHITE on WHITE

We would like to remind everyone that submissions must adhere to the Guidelines set out above and be evidently Clean and Simple!

It's also a new month which means a new sponsor and this month we are excited that Stephanie from Clearly Besotted is our sponsor.  Clearly Besotted are Celebrating their first birthday this month too!

A good excuse to make a couple of Christmas cards as it will be upon us before we know it 
WOW is such a lovely theme but a nightmare to get a decent photograph!
Anyway here are my entries this week:

This is very simple, just an EF with a bow and a gem

This was made with offcuts using an EF and a MB die.

Thanks to everyone for the anniversary wishes, we had a great night at the theatre, The Commitments was brilliant, amazing singing, a definite hit! Very nice meal too in Covent Garden  Looking forward to a nice warm break and lots of good food!
Thanks for visiting and hopefully leaving a comment so I can visit you.

Oh I do love to be beside the seaside......

A very quick post before we are off to the theatre and dinner! The letter this time for the Alpha challenge is J , come and see which word I chose:

Did you guess? I love the seaside and decided to depict a journey to the coast. I used stamps that were from a magazine freebie set and the bathing belle is an Acid Drops and Whatnots stamp.

Thanks for taking the time to visit and if you get the chance to join in with this challenge please do, it's great fun:)

Less is More week 139-sketch

Afternoon from a soggy London town and nearly 10 days since I last posted anything! I even missed last week's LIM challenge which hardly ever happens unless I'm on holiday   It was a busy week making several cards for friends birthdays and a new baby, practising my singing for the Shine walk at Battersea and several social occasions! Unfortunately I had a tummy bug on Saturday and couldn't sing at Battersea as I was scared to be far from a loo!!!!
On the up side Charlie came for the weekend and we had lots of fun  
Anyway I have three cards to show you so sit back, relax and check out my photos:

The LIM challenge this week is a sketch from Jen



and here is my Christmas take on the sketch:

I used Majestix twig stamp to create the wreath and Stamps by Judith for the berries and lights. 

This card is for my friend Carol, an ex colleague, and I cut a circle from the A5 card and a tiny frame to to add depth. I stamped the front using a new stamp from Ally Pally and embossed the front woth a dotty swirls ef. I stamped the flower three times and cut them slightly smaller adding glitter and gems. The flourish is a Marianne one.

Finally tomorrow is our 43rd wedding anniversary and we are off to London to the theatre to see The Commitments and have a meal and here is my card using the mask that I bought at Ally Pally. The heart is a freebie from Craft Stamper.

Thanks for taking the time to visit and you know I love to read your comments